


Like An Open Book

by cherrybombtriestowrite



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: M/M, i wanted to write minhwan in but maybe next time, jihoon is sorta mentioned hehe 2park if u squint super hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 00:40:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12287589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrybombtriestowrite/pseuds/cherrybombtriestowrite
Summary: Kang Daniel is a proud owner of a bookstore passed down through generations. So when a bookstore chain wants to open a franchise two blocks down his store, Daniel will not let it happen.Ong Seongwoo is the youngest in the company to be put in charge of a franchise opening. Committed to the job, he will not let a local bookstore ruin the start of his promising career.





	Like An Open Book

**Author's Note:**

> this is supposed to be an au based on the movie You've Got Mail but I changed it so much it barely looks similar :/
> 
> o well enjoy the 5th installation in the enemies to lovers collection!

“Two words: Grand Books.”

Looking up from his ramen, Daniel quirks an eyebrow at Woojin who is standing in front of him, panting. His reply to the vague sentence is, “Generic bookstore chain, what about it?”

“THEY’RE OPENING A BRANCH HERE.” Woojin exclaims, pointing at a random direction.

Standing up immediately with strings of ramen still dangling out his mouth, Daniel quickly slurps them in and coughs from trying to hold in the shock as well as the hot ramen. Once he has himself composed, Daniel exclaims back, “WHAT?!”

Minhyun walks in through the door with too many grocery bags in hand and scolds, “Woojin-ah, how could you leave me to carry all the bags myself?”

“I had to tell Daniel hyung about the situation immediately!”

“Oh. Right. The situation.”

Running a hand through his hair, Daniel could only walk rounds in their apartment as he laments on his luck. He owns a bookstore, which is already a risky business in the digital age - not even considering competition from franchised bookstores yet. The bookstore he currently owns has been passed down from his grandparent to his parents, and he had the honor to officially be the owner three years ago. It started off as a tiny store in the middle of Busan shortly after the Japanese occupation, but it expanded in his parent’s hands. When Daniel took over, his first project was to add a small cafe and it became unexpectedly well loved by the younger generation that he has public readings and open mic sessions on the weekends. Once a month, they’ll even hold a poem recitation night which starts after 11 and is heavily influenced by alcohol (obviously Daniel’s idea). He holds pride in getting people his age to enjoy books the way it should be enjoyed.

There isn’t any other bookstore in the area, which makes it even more precious.Everyone in the area loves the store, and anyone who lives in the area would know Kang Daniel, as well as his loyal helpers, childhood friends, and housemates Hwang Minhyun and Park Woojin. While Minhyun is in the middle of getting his masters, Woojin is still an undergraduate in college. They decided to move in together to be independent from their parents, which is fun for the three friends but also tiring for Minhyun who feels like a single parent sometimes. Even so, the three of them equally devote their energy and passion in books for the store. 

Grand Books will  _ ruin _ all of this.

While it is true that locals would prefer Daniel’s store, aptly renamed ‘The 1210’ by the Kangs when Daniel was born, nothing is sure with the opening of a franchise of the popular Grand Books. Daniel can only imagine it would be huge and eats up so much of people’s attention that his store would be forgotten. Not to mention how slow the sales would be during the month of the opening. Daniel is already breaking out into beads of sweat at 7 in the morning. 

“Let’s, uh,” Daniel puts the bowl of ramen in the sink and grabs his bag, “let’s just go and open the store.”

~

 

 

  
  


“Sir, we’ve arrived.”

Blinking his eyes open, Seongwoo smiles at the driver. “Have we?”

After a few hours of travel, Seongwoo finally arrives at the apartment he’s staying in for the duration of the project, feeling satisfied of how fancy it is. He lived in a tiny shared apartment during his college days, so it feels good that all of his hard work paid off when the driver handed him the keys to his apartment that is in a more gentrified area of Busan. 

Once he is settled in, he calls his mother to tell her about his awesome new apartment and gloat to his sister for a bit. After hanging up the call, he checks on his next door neighbor who is also his partner and right hand man, Jaehwan. He barges in like it’s his own home and interrupts Jaehwan’s alone time.

“We’ll be staying here for the next few months.” Seongwoo excitedly points out, dancing to no music in the middle of Jaehwan’s room.

Jaehwan is still arranging his things around, barely listening to whatever Seongwoo is saying. “Yeah...I kind of miss Seoul already.”

“Is that all you can think of? Enjoy Busan, who knows when you’ll be able to stay here this long again.” Seongwoo suggests, jumping on Jaehwan’s bed. 

“Don’t forget,” Jaehwan sighs, “we’re here for work.”

“Exactly!” Seongwoo pumps a fist in the air and exclaims, “We’re the youngest in the company to be given such an opportunity, Jaehwan-ah. Let’s make sure this is just the start of our super prosperous career. It’s only fair that we get to enjoy our youth as well.”

Laughing at how positive and happy Seongwoo is at such an early hour, Jaehwan replies with a weak, “Amen to that.”

~

 

 

  
  
  


A 3-story building. That’s how big the bookstore is. Daniel and Woojin stand by the sidewalk with their chins up, staring at the huge building already being refurbished to prepare for the store. Suddenly struck by anger, Daniel picks up a rock by his feet and flings it towards the building. It barely hits anything, but he feels an oddly specific satisfaction from it. 

“Do you think if we throw stones at them everyday, they’d stop working?” Woojin asks, picking up a rock as well and throwing it. 

“No, but it’s worth a try.” Daniel replies and repeats his action. 

They stop by the time Minhyun appears, walking towards them and shaking his head. He has just finished his classes and would usually expect to find the boys working in the store. He decides to stand with them and marvel at the competition being built before them. It’s about 2 blocks away from their store, which means Daniel and Woojin left the store just to stare at it. Minhyun looks down to see that they still have their work aprons on and sighs. He ushers them back to the store and decides to make some tea.

“If I ever meet the people in charge of this,” Daniel angrily speaks in between his sips, “I’ll be throwing rocks  _ at them _ instead.”

Woojin nods at this and adds, “How could they open it up right where there’s already a perfectly fine bookstore?”

“It’s sabotage.”

“Do you think so, hyung?”

“I  _ know _ so.”

Holding his hands up to calm them down, Minhyun reasons with them, “I’m sure they never intended this. We’re a vaguely named store after all--”

“They must’ve done research! This has to be on purpose.” Daniel fumes. 

Woojin suggests, “I bet whoever’s in charge is just a money hungry capitalist who doesn’t care about small local businesses like us.”

“Wow, glad to see those economics classes are paying off.” Minhyun teases, sipping his tea and choosing not to participate in this discussion anymore.

Daniel puts his mug down and sighs. “I've never hated someone I’ve never met this much.”

~

 

 

  
  
  


“There’s a bookstore nearby?!” Seongwoo asks, getting angrier by the second. “How the hell did we miss that?”

Jaehwan drives closer to said bookstore and shrugs. “Look - it doesn’t even look like a bookstore. There’s a cafe out front and the name is so vague--”

“I don’t care!” Seongwoo exclaims with anger laced in his tone. He hates it when no research is done about the area before a project goes up because now he has to cover up for other people’s mistakes. “What’s important is it will affect our store. Not to mention how dumb and evil we look by opening a bookstore just two blocks away from a local one.”

Checking to see if Jaehwan is sharing the same anger, Seongwoo rolls his eyes because Jaehwan is staring out the window at something else instead of listening to him. He leans forward to see that Jaehwan has his attention glued on a tall and handsome man wearing an apron, wiping the tables in the bookstore’s cafe. He smiles at the customers passing by, most of them women who turn red at the sight of such a good looking man. Seongwoo looks at Jaehwan and he’s the same shade of red, smiling to himself.

Seongwoo could only sigh and talk to himself, “I hope our branch can overshadow this tiny store. If they’ve got local support and pretty men, we can make it up with our size and brand.”

“Yeah...” Jaehwan sighs, still swooning over the man.

“Yeah, exactly. This store can be the least of our worries if we try hard enough.” Seongwoo assures himself. “I won’t allow it to be an obstacle whatsoever.”

~

 

 

  
  
  


Daniel is responsible with early morning market duties on Sundays. It used to be Minhyun’s duty, but the elder wanted Daniel to get into the habit of waking up extra early instead. Checking the weather app, Daniel acknowledges the fall weather and puts his snug red hoodie on. He checks to see that his hair looks fine so he foregoes the cap. Yawning, he walks to the market with a to-buy list written on the back of his palm.

“Daniel-ah, are you wearing enough layers?”

Looking up to see the lady behind the butcher’s stall, Daniel smiles and nods. “Of course, don’t worry!”

“Niel-ah, I’ve got some fruits for you!”

“Is our Daniel eating well? Come have some soup I made.”

“Where’s Minhyun and Woojin? Take some of these dumplings and share it with them.”

Feeling used to this kind of treatment at the market, Daniel offers his kind smile back to these lovely market uncles and aunts. Minhyun used to be the one being handed free items for being handsome and pleasant, but now it is time for Daniel to shine as the cute puppy you can’t help but to feed. He is still half awake, which means his adorable sleepy face earns him even more free stuff.

When he stops by the store that sells vegetables (just to avoid Minhyun’s constant berating about how they need more greens) he tries to recall the usual vegetables they’d buy. As he sleepily reaches for some spring onions, he finds his hand holding another hand instead. Quickly retracting it and apologizing, he finds his words stuck at the back of his throat when he sees the owner of the hand he had just held.

The only words he can use to describe the man beside him is that he looks like a sculpted statue and is definitely too handsome to be real. The man is in a cashmere coat and when Daniel is done scanning him, he looks up to find the man smiling lopsidedly at him.

“Do my hands look like spring onions?” The man jokes, looking at his hands. He speaks with a Seoul accent, his voice distinct and charming.

The joke is so unexpected - especially coming from such a handsome face - that Daniel is unable to hold back his natural tendency to laugh at anything and everything. The man’s face lights up at how hard Daniel is laughing, even holding on to his shoulder as if it was the best joke ever cracked since the start of time.

“I’m...I’m sorry.” Daniel wipes the tears forming in his eyes and sighs. “It’s so early in the morning I could barely open my eyes.”

“It’s okay, I’ve been told my fingers are too long. And skinny.”

“I swear I didn’t think they were spring onions!”

“I’m saying it’s okay if you did.”

Finally able to hold his laughter back, Daniel smiles instead. He grabs some spring onions into a bag and continues to look for more vegetables. He goes ahead to pick up some bok choys but a hand lands on top of his. Daniel looks up to find the same man, this time with him apologizing. 

“I’m sorry - they just look so similar.”

Pretending to be offended, Daniel asks, “Are you saying my hands look like bok choys?”

The man purses his lips and shrugs, picking some of it up into a bag. Daniel could only laugh at how funny this morning has become. It’s rare to find a handsome man at the morning market, let alone one that’s _ funny _ . Once he’s done, Daniel gives his bag of vegetables for the old lady to check out. 

“You eat a lot of vegetables, huh?” The man asks, comparing it to his tiny bag. He then looks at Daniel’s figure, as if to assume that he grew such a nice built through a diligent diet of vegetables.

No one can know that Daniel lives off of an unhealthy amount of jelly and ramen, so Daniel just shakes his head and replies, “No, my housemate wants me to eat more greens, but he ends up finishing them instead.”

The lady gives Daniel a plastic bag worth of vegetables back and receives money from him. Daniel checks to see that everything is in there and heads away from the stall, skipping happily towards the meat stall.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

Daniel is certain his ears are turning as red as his hoodie when he hears the man ask that quite loudly. He turns around slowly and before he could answer, the lady at the vegetable stall answers for him, “He’s our Niel-ie, don’t you know?”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Daniel laughs nervously and says, “Yeah...Kang Daniel.”

With a delighted face, the man nods and repeats, “Kang Daniel.” He waves at Daniel and introduces himself, “I’m Ong Seongwoo, hope to see you again!”

“Ong?” Both Daniel and the vegetable lady ask, perplexed.

“Yeah, Ong. Not Hong, or Gong, or Wong. Ong.”

“Alright,  _ Ong _ Seongwoo. See you...whenever.” Daniel shyly waves back and walks away at the speed of light. As he browses through the market that morning, all he could think of is the most peculiar name to match a beautiful face.  _ Ong Seongwoo _ . 

~

 

 

  
  
  


Seongwoo never ended up meeting Daniel anywhere else after that. He is constantly on the lookout every time he goes out, but Jaehwan would remind him that the city isn’t small and the chances of him finding some random cute dude he met at the market might be thin. So Seongwoo knows the highest chance to see Daniel again would be where they met in the first place.  _ If you do see vege boy again _ , Jaehwan advises him,  _ make sure to get his number.  _

When Seongwoo does see Daniel again, which is exactly a week after they first met, Daniel is with another man. It could be the housemate he was referring to, yet Seongwoo can’t help but to feel a tinge of jealousy upon seeing a sleepy Daniel cling onto such a handsome man. Wearing yet another hoodie, Daniel looks adorably smaller for a man his size when he has an arm linked with his friend’s. Weirdly, Seongwoo finds the other man quite familiar but fails to recall where he’s seen him before.

After a few minutes of discreetly following behind Daniel and the man, Seongwoo realizes that he’s just being creepy. He was trying to listen to what they were talking about, but it was just the man asking Daniel if they should buy this, if Daniel likes that, if a certain ‘Woojin’ would eat this, and so on. The man’s accent is barely there compared to Daniel’s thick one.

_ You’re only doing this because you’re delaying things _ , Seongwoo tells himself.  _ Get the freaking number! _

After 10 minutes of mindlessly going through a selection of spices, Seongwoo finally gathers his courage and walks up towards Daniel and his friend who are coincidentally at the vegetable stall. Quietly walking up beside Daniel, Seongwoo watches as Daniel picks up a bitter gourd.

“If you’re going to get vegetables to eat, at least pick a realistic one.”

Daniel jumps a little, shocked at the sudden statement from the man next to him. He turns to see the handsome man he had met at the exact same place last week and a huge smile appears on his face. Seongwoo’s heart leaps a mile.

“Oh...Ong? It’s you!” Daniel cheerily greets. “I thought I’d see you here again.”

“What a great coincidence.” Seongwoo says.  _ Lies, I was praying last night that you’d be here. _ “I’m done shopping but I saw you and thought I should say hi.”

Turning around to pull his friend, Daniel excitedly introduces him. “Minhyun hyung, this is Ong Seongwoo. Seongwoo, this is Hwang Minhyun, the one who’s making me eat my greens.”

Bowing and shaking his hand, Seongwoo could only wonder if he’s able to match up to someone this good looking. Minhyun’s face lights up a little and asks, “Is this the guy you told us about last week?”

Frowning, Daniel hits Minhyun’s arm and tells him to shut up. He pushes Minhyun aside and tells him to continue selecting the vegetables. Seongwoo smiles to himself at the thought of Daniel telling people about him, just like he told people about Daniel (it’s just Jaehwan, but he would’ve told more people if he had the time to make friends).

“Anyways, I was wondering...” Seongwoo is never a nervous man when it comes to situations like this - he has a lot of confidence in his game- and yet, when he’s faced with this soft-faced man, his knees grow a little weak. “If I could get your number, maybe? I-I’m new in town and I don’t have that many friends, so--”

“Give me your phone.”

Hurriedly, Seongwoo fishes his phone out of his pocket and almost drops it when he hands it to Daniel. He watches as Daniel types in his number, his face looking adorable as he is focused on it. Daniel gives it back to him when he’s done and smiles brightly despite the sleepiness in his eyes. 

“I’m free if you, uh, want a friend to eat dinner with or whatever.” Daniel suggests, but immediately cringes at how awkwardly obvious he sounds. “O-or, like, drink coffee. Or just...to talk.”

Seongwoo smiles at the number saved in his phone under ‘Kang Daniel (bok choy hands)’. He looks up and discovers some bravery buried deep in him once he sees Daniel smiling at him with his two front teeth sticking out a little. “You know what - are you free for dinner tonight?”

Minhyun suddenly appears from behind Daniel and butts in, “He’s  _ very _ free tonight.”

Swatting his friend away, Daniel grows even more flustered and nods. “Yes, I’m free for dinner tonight.”

“Great! How about you suggest a nice place to eat and I’ll text you the time?”

“Sounds great, I guess.”

“See you tonight?”

“Definitely.”

~

 

 

  
  
  
  


Picking out a white shirt, Daniel acknowledges the fact that he looks good in it - when partially tucked in it really flaunts his long legs - but he’s not sure if it’s suitable to be worn to a pasta restaurant.  _ I eat so messily _ , Daniel thinks to himself.

As he browses for a second option, Woojin comes bursting into his room, panting like he did the other day. He holds up a paper and announces, “We’ve got mail.”

Aware that it’s how most bills and newsletters are posted, Daniel quirks an eyebrow and asks, “Uh...and?”

“They had the  _ audacity _ .”

“What is it?” Daniel asks, tired of Woojin’s theatrics (obviously that college friend of his, Daehwi must’ve rubbed off on him) and grabs the letter to read it.

It’s a letter from Grand Books, offering a reimbursement if they were to shut their store down in lieu with the opening of the Grand Books store. It’s a handsome sum, but no amount of money in the world can be offered to soothe the burning fiery pits of Kang Daniel’s heart. He could feel his stomach churning and his thoughts focusing on only one idea - to storm the office of the assholes who sent them the notice.

“Woojin,” Daniel grabs a jacket and puts it over his outfit, “Google the local Grand Books office. We’re going to see these asswipes.”

“Sure.” Woojin answers immediately but pauses upon seeing Daniel getting the keys to their shared car. “Right now?”

“You heard me.”

Woojin is just as angry as him, but Daniel wouldn’t listen when he suggested they wait for Minhyun. And so Daniel drives ridiculously fast with the directions given by Woojin’s phone. The office is in a high rise building, located on the 9th floor. Daniel strides into the lobby and doesn’t even wait to listen to the receptionist who is trying to ask him why he’s here. Pulling Woojin with him, Daniel gets on the elevator and smashes the button marked ‘9′. When they arrive, Daniel finds himself lost among the many office rooms and slightly regrets not talking to the receptionist earlier. 

“There’s the regional project manager’s office.” Woojin points at a door with said post written. The name plaque has the slot for the manager’s name empty, just like most of the office doors on the floor as they might’ve had a new batch of workers for this project. Daniel walks towards the door and angrily twists the knob only to find that it’s locked. Angry, he twists it harder despite knowing it wouldn’t magically open - unless he kicks it down. 

“Can I help you?”

Both Daniel and Woojin turn around to see a man stepping out of the office marked as the vice regional project manager’s office. He seems quite young to hold such a position, but Daniel is not in the right mind to be thinking about such a thing. Grabbing a piece of paper from his pocket, Daniel sticks it in front of the vice manager’s face. The man inches back a little until he is able to see what the paper says. 

“A-ah, so you’re...the owner of the bookstore?” The man nervously asks. “I imagined an older person…”

Putting the paper down, Daniel’s anger shows in his voice as he answers, “Yes, I own the bookstore that has been there decades before you fools decided to erect your bookstore two blocks down from mine.”

Mouth a little agape, the man lets out a nervous laugh. “I see...we can discuss this matter when the manager is here. He’s away for a bit--”

“Is he the asshole who issued this letter?”

“I- He- Yes. It was his idea. I thought it was a little rude but--”

“Well, you tell him,” Daniel walks close - too close - towards the man until they’re barely inches apart, “that I got his stupid letter and if he wants a fight, he’s got it.”

Stuttering, the man quickly interrupts, “I’m s-sure he didn’t mean to start a fight- instead it’s more of a peace offering!”

Woojin scoffs and butts in for the first time, “The only peace offering you’ll get from us is--”

Holding his feisty young friend back, Daniel tells him to relax. He turns back towards the man and explains, “What he’s trying to say is unless you retract this dumb offering - and better yet this dumb project - you’re asking for a fight.”

“But we only--”

Holding a hand up in front of the man’s face, Daniel shakes his head as a sign that he doesn’t want to hear anything coming out of his mouth anymore. “Make sure you deliver your jerk of a boss my message. I’ll be back and you guys better be ready.”

With that, the two of them walk away with anger in their every step. It’s only when they’re in the elevator that Daniel realizes how much his knees are shaking. He has never experienced this much anger, let alone act out on it. He’s never a man of violence, but he felt like this needs a bit of force into it. The bookstore means the world to him, and to see someone treat it like it’s a disposable store brought out the beast in him. Even Woojin watches him warily, scared of saying anything in case he’ll get yelled at (not that Daniel has ever, but there’s always a first). They drive back home in silence.

~

 

 

  
  
  
  


“He what?”

Putting his legs up on his desk, Jaehwan leans back in his chair and rubs the bridge of nose. He mutters, “The dude’s a mad man, I’m telling you. The fear I felt was unreal.”

“I can understand how older people can get riled up about this.but it’s not like we’re defiling the area with this freaking bookstore.”

“Oh, he’s not old.” Jaehwan chuckles as he recalls the man’s features he was able to see up close. “Can’t be that much older than us. Handsome guy. Would’ve asked for his number if he wasn’t so damn terrifying.”

“Well, that’s scarier. Barging in like a gangster- you could’ve called security and have him hauled out or something.” Seongwoo suggests, adjusting his tie and then taking it off altogether.

“I would’ve if I could even move-- excuse me, what are you doing? Why is your suit fancier than normal?” Jaehwan asks, disturbed by how focused Seongwoo is on his own reflection in the mirror.

“I-is this too fancy? It’s just a black suit and a white shirt.” Seongwoo worriedly asks, checking his outfit.

“Depends on the occasion.” Jaehwan shrugs. He then narrows his eyes and asks, “Is it the dude from the market? Did you finally find him?”

Smirking, Seongwoo nods. “He suggested a fancy pasta and wine restaurant - which is amazing. Perfect first date...though I’m not sure if he sees it as a date. Do you think--”

“Listen, whatever it is that happens later, I hope it goes well.” Jaehwan cuts him as he has reached his socializing quota for the day. “Now the important matter here is what do I do with that bookstore owner? I’m just scared he’s going to barge in again with a bat.”

“Issue another letter. This time arranging a meeting to negotiate.” 

“No, absolutely not. That just means I’m inviting him to come in my office and murder me.”

“Just do it and let me handle him. He thinks he owns the only bookstore in Busan? I’ll show him how insignificant his store is with the magic of numbers.”

Scratching his head out of frustration, Jaehwan sighs and writes the memo down. “As long as  _ your _ ass is on the line and not mine.”

~

 

 

  
  
  
  


Panting and almost sweating, Daniel bends forward and props his hands against his knees for a while. He then collects himself and smiles at the waiter standing by the entrance of the restaurant.

“Reservation at 7 under Kang Daniel?” Daniel asks. The waiter then directs him towards his table, where a handsome and lanky man is already seated in all his black suit glory. Daniel did end up wearing the outfit he planned earlier, but he feels awfully under-dressed compared to how posh Seongwoo looks.

Seongwoo, on the other hand, finally notices his arrival and is unable to stop looking at Daniel from top to toe. Daniel then realizes that the only times they’ve met are at the market where he has bed hair and wears a selection of hoodies. This would be the first time Seongwoo would see Daniel properly dressed in clothes that fit him (too well) and his hair styled. Woojin insisted on styling his hair, while Minhyun thought it’d be better to go natural. Woojin ended up doing a better job.

“H-hi.” Seongwoo finally greets him, standing up and waiting until he sits. When they’re both seated, Daniel admires up close how Seongwoo unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and his cross necklace is seen peeking. He hopes his face hasn’t turned red yet ( _ it’s just a damn chest, Daniel! Get your shit together! _ ).

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Daniel apologizes, grabbing the napkin to place on his lap. “I had...some business to settle.”

The ‘business’ was actually just Daniel carrying the adrenaline he had from his anger to go meet Minhyun at his college campus. Minhyun had to skip a class just to listen to Daniel angrily rant about the disrespect he received by a man he hasn’t even met yet. 

“Business?” Seongwoo asks, interested. “Are you referring to an actual business, or...?”

“Family business.” Daniel answers, smiling proudly. “Received it from my parents three years ago and I think I’ve been doing a good job at it.”

Nodding in admiration, Seongwoo could only smile fondly as he watches Daniel’s face turn red at his own self compliment. Daniel wants to bury his head under this restaurant’s marble floor for turning red so easily. 

It’s only after the wine arrived at their table that both men could finally loosen up. Seongwoo starts first with his naturally flirty and charming words that makes Daniel’s heart beat way too fast. They flow so naturally that Daniel finds it bad for his heart as it threatens to escape his chest every time Seongwoo sends a flirty sentence his way. Seongwoo isn’t even drunk (because he has to drive them home later) and yet he’s the wilder one between them. When Daniel mentions that he used to be bullied for his looks, Seongwoo scoffs and says,  _ they’d be on their knees if they see you now _ . And when Daniel offhandedly mentions how he used to dance, Seongwoo points out that his long legs must contribute to a good form when he dances. Daniel thinks he has been complimented more times in this dinner than he ever has in his entire life. 

Eating as messily as he expected to, Daniel doesn’t realize the sauce on his face until Seongwoo pulls the age-old ‘you’ve got something on your face’ trick. He would’ve seen it coming if he wasn’t so engrossed in his pasta, but alas he is caught off guard when Seongwoo chuckles adoringly as he wipes the sauce from the edge of Daniel’s lips. Daniel could feel his heart flipping about when Seongwoo licks the sauce off is thumb as if it’s no big deal.

The dinner is over when Seongwoo receives an e-mail saying he’s got a conference call scheduled early tomorrow morning. He didn’t want to end the night just yet, but Daniel insists that he doesn’t want to be the reason Seongwoo slacks off on his job. Daniel finds out that Seongwoo is working on a development job in the city, where he’s assigned as a manager despite his young age. It certainly helps elevate the image of Seongwoo in Daniel’s mind that is already glorious as it is. 

Considerably sober, Seongwoo offers a ride home despite Daniel insisting that he can call his friend (Woojin is using their car tonight so a favor wouldn’t hurt) or an Uber. Seongwoo wouldn’t take no for an answer and Daniel finds himself holding back a gasp once he sees Seongwoo’s fancy ride.  _ Comes with the job _ , Seongwoo shrugs coolly.

There’s a comforting silence in the car, with both of them deep in thought. Daniel finally mutters when they’re halfway there, “You’re a good driver.”

“I love driving, it relaxes me.” Seongwoo replies with a smile. Daniel finds it quite attractive that Seongwoo took his jacket off earlier and the white shirt he’s wearing fits his body nicely. He could only sneak a glance or two when he knows Seongwoo isn’t looking, but it’s enough to feed his imaginations.

When they arrive outside of Daniel’s home he shares with his friends, he steps out the car and notices two heads suddenly peek from the window at their living room. Daniel gives them a look that says  _ ‘stop embarrassing me’ _ but Woojin takes out his phone to record him instead.

“Are they your friends?” Daniel turns around to see Seongwoo has stepped out as well and is walking towards him. 

“Uh...yeah. My embarrassing friends who I live with.” Daniel frustratingly points out. “Don’t mind them.”

Standing a little too close to be friendly, Seongwoo smiles at Daniel and says, “I really enjoyed dinner.”

“I did too. You’re definitely one of the best dates I’ve had.” Immediately flustered by his own statement, Daniel corrects himself, “I mean- date as in...we had dinner. And talked. And you are such an interesting guy--”

“It was a date.” Seongwoo cuts him off, assuring him that he thinks the same way. “And the best one I’ve ever had too.”

“Right...good to know.” Daniel rubs the back of his neck in an attempt to soothe his thumping heart. He isn’t sure if he should just head inside and bid farewell or wait for something to happen. He  _ wants  _ something to happen, but the first date might be too soon.

Except Seongwoo thinks otherwise.

While he’s looking down at his shoes, Daniel feels a hand cupping his left cheek and then a pair of lips kisses his right cheek. He looks up and Seongwoo is smiling at him, his lopsided one that Daniel is  _ so _ weak for. Now that Daniel knows now that they’re on the same page, he bravely leans forward and plants a soft but long kiss on Seongwoo’s lips. When Daniel pulls away, Seongwoo pulls him by the back of his neck and kisses him back. This time, Seongwoo softly bites Daniel’s lower lip before slipping his tongue in his mouth. This immediately sends Daniel to the seventh heaven, wondering if this is real and he is kissing the most handsome man he’s ever met - right outside his house. Daniel moves in rhythm with his lips and tongue, trying not to ruin this beautiful kiss. Their kiss seems effortless with the both of them moving at the same pace and tasting of the same wine. Daniel’s arms encircles Seongwoo’s slender waist, while Seongwoo’s hands holds Daniel’s face as they kiss a little too passionately in public. 

After what seems like an eternity, Daniel pulls back slowly. He mutters, “You need to go home, it’s getting too late.”

“Daniel, I don’t mind kissing you all night even if it means I’ll miss my meeting.” Seongwoo romantically confesses, leaning forward to catch his lips again only to be swerved.

Daniel laughs and shakes his head, avoiding Seongwoo’s oh so tempting lips. “No. I don’t want to be the reason you get fired, okay.”

“Is this your way of telling me you didn’t like the kiss?”

“No!” Daniel’s face grows red at how fast he replied that. “I loved it. I’ve never been kissed like that. And I’d love to kiss you longer but you should really head home.”

“But I’ll see you soon, right?” Seongwoo asks, his eyes moving from Daniel’s lips to his eyes.

Nodding enthusiastically, Daniel grins. “Definitely.”

They have a hard time removing themselves from each other, especially with Seongwoo’s insistence that they kiss  _ one more time _ . Daniel tells him to save it for the next time they meet, which Seongwoo replies with, “Let’s meet tomorrow then.” Agreeing with the hasty plan, Daniel then forces Seongwoo to get in the car. After watching the car drive away, he turns around to see his friends who are still at the window - Minhyun is eating chips with a face mask on while Woojin is still recording him. Frowning, Daniel shouts at them, “YAH!”

~

 

 

  
  
  


“I barely had 3 hours of sleep because we texted all night but it was perfect to say the least.” Seongwoo ties the tie around his neck without even looking, focusing on telling Jaehwan his story instead.

“You’ve literally been here for less than a month and you already scored?” Jaehwan scoffs as he tries to log into his Skype account for the conference call. “Should I go back to that bookstore to look for that handsome guy I saw the other day?” 

“Yeah, hopefully you’ll bump into the scary owner and get chased out with a bat.” Seongwoo laughs as he puts a coat on. He evades Jaehwan’s kick on the butt narrowly. “Maybe you should, though. Just don’t tell him you work for Grand Books.”

“Why not?”

“Because he works for that local bookstore?” Seongwoo points out obviously, giving Jaehwan an incredulous look for not catching on the obvious. “And anyways, I told the newspaper man about my job once and he gave me a dirty look - I’m assuming a lot of them here are quite attached to that local bookstore.”

Jaehwan turns to face him and quirks an eyebrow. “Does your market guy know, then?”

Seongwoo scoffs. “Are you crazy? I wasn’t about to risk anything so I just told him I’m in a development business.” He nudges Jaehwan slightly. “And he has a name, it’s Daniel.”

“Wait, is he a foreigner? Korean American or something?”

“I thought so too, but he said he was born and bred a Busan man.” Seongwoo smiles to himself and says, “Kang Daniel.”

“Kang?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Nothing, it’s just that the bookstore owner’s name on the record is Kang Euigeon. Best hope they’re not related or something.”

“God forbid.”

A shiver runs down Jaehwan’s spine at the thought of it. He is about to sit and start the call, but stops halfway when he notices that Seongwoo is only wearing boxers with his shirt and tie. “Where are your pants?”

“They’ll only see you from the waist up during these conference calls.” Seongwoo shrugs. 

Jaehwan accepts the point gratefully and pulls his pants down, relieved as he sits on the chair with just his boxers. They proceed with the call that, despite waking up early to accommodate the timezone difference with the main headquarters, only lasted barely an hour. Right after they end the call, both men throw their jackets and ties away and crash on Jaehwan’s bed together. 

“Hyung.”

Seongwoo hums in return, still tired from the late night.

“You should introduce me to Daniel. Maybe get him to bring a handsome friend with him. Oh my god, what if he knows the cafe guy?”

Seongwoo laughs at this and shoves him slightly. “I can’t - what if he falls for you?”

“That’s a harsh joke, hyung.” Jaehwan fakes hurt. 

Before Jaehwan could expand his imagination, Seongwoo’s phone pings with a text notification. A big smile appears on his face the moment he sees who it’s from. It’s a text from Daniel, which is a reply to Seongwoo’s ‘good mornin sunshine what’re u up 2’, with a photo attached. It’s a selfie with both his housemates at the back joining in as they’re doing what looks like cooking breakfast together. Seongwoo sits up and shows his phone screen to Jaehwan’s excitedly. “Isn’t he handsome? He’s got the best smile I’ve ever seen. The other two are his housemates- oh, and this housemate of his is really handsome. I feel like he might be your type--”

“HYUNG.” Jaehwan’s eyes slowly turn from curious to one that has seen a revelation. “Th-that’s…”

Chuckling at how funny Jaehwan is acting, Seongwoo points at the picture. “ _ That _ ’s Daniel, so he’s off bounds. But  _ that _ ’s Minhyun, and he’s the one--”

“THAT’S THE BOOKSTORE OWNER WHO’S GOING TO KICK MY ASS.”

Blinking and processing what Jaehwan just said, Seongwoo asks, “W-who?”

Pointing at Daniel’s smiling face, Jaehwan exclaims, “HIM!” Jaehwan then points at Woojin, “A-and that’s the other guy who came with him.” His scared face then turns into a disappointed one as he points at Minhyun. “And I’m pretty sure that’s the cafe guy.”

Staring at the picture, Seongwoo’s mind could only conjure up the millions of ways this could go wrong.  _ Maybe Jaehwan’s mistaken. Maybe he isn’t. Maybe Daniel knew all along and is luring me to my death. Maybe I don’t care even if he does. _ Just before his mind could venture towards darker areas, another text comes in from Daniel. The both of them turn to look at the phone screen.

Kang Daniel (bok choy hands): btw, do you want anything from the convenience store? I’m stopping by before I go to your place

“YOU INVITED HIM OVER?!” Jaehwan screams, jumping on the bed. “DO YOU WANT ME TO DIE?”

“He said we should meet again so I s-suggested we meet today at my place and- HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW HE’S THE BOOKSTORE OWNER?!” Seongwoo dramatically falls back on the bed and cries out loud. “I thought you said his name is Kang whatever?”

Jaehwan falls back on the bed next to Seongwoo and sighs. “I am 100% positive that is the man. He had his face an inch away from mine so I don’t think I’ll ever forget his face.”

Letting out a sad whine, Seongwoo buries his face in the pillow. His muffled voice exclaims, “I knew he was too perfect to be real!”

Staring at the ceiling and accepting his fate, Jaehwan softly says, “Hyung, I’m sorry but...you’ll have to tell him.”

Seongwoo sighs. “I know.”

~

 

 

  
  
  
  


Looking up at the tall building, Daniel’s mouth is agape at the fact that Seongwoo lives here. He had guessed that it’s a good job, but not  _ this _ good. He heads up to Seongwoo’s and nervously bites his nails as he waits for the elevator to arrive. 

Seongwoo did not reply to his text, so Daniel assumed he went back to sleep after his conference call. They did end it quite late last night, after all. Remembering how the night ended, Daniel bites his lip to stop himself from grinning too hard. Before he knows it, he’s already in front of Seongwoo’s front door. Daniel presses the doorbell and nervously tugs on his hoodie.

The door opens and Daniel’s face lights up upon seeing a freshly showered Seongwoo greeting him with casual clothes on and a towel around his neck. It seems a little awkward, but Daniel contributes it to how early it is. Despite engaging in a heated make out session last night, they’ve only met each other thrice. 

“I thought you might’ve forgotten that you invited me over.” Daniel shyly says, walking inside after Seongwoo opens the door wider. 

“How could I?” Seongwoo says with the lopsided smile of his that Daniel told Minhyun and Woojin about all night long until they fell asleep. Daniel turns and looks always to hide his blush, clearing his throat. 

“I didn’t stop by the convenience store, by the way. I wanted to but-” Daniel freezes in his spot when he feels two arms slide around his waist, followed by a warm pair of lips on his neck. He gets goosebumps as it tickles a little. “W-what are you doing?”

“Do you want me to stop?” Seongwoo asks, still kissing Daniel’s neck softly with no hint to stopping anytime soon.

“No, but…” Daniel tilts his head as Seongwoo’s lips slowly move upwards. “It’s so early in the morning…”

Seongwoo chuckles at Daniel’s reasoning and removes his lips. He turns Daniel around and holds his cheeks adoringly. “I, uh, think you...need to know something.”

Nervous at the wide possibility of what Seongwoo might say, Daniel shrinks under his touch and asks, “What is it?”

“I...actually I…” His gaze shifting towards Daniel’s lips, Seongwoo strokes his cheek. His expression seems to indicate that he changes his mind and instead mutters, “I want you.”

“What?” Daniel asks, unsure if he heard right. “Did you say--”

Seongwoo pulls Daniel closer and quite frankly attacks his lips with a kiss that Daniel accepts with a giggle. “Seongwoo, why--”

Pulling away from the kiss, Seongwoo tugs Daniel by his hand and suggests, “Let’s move to my room.”

The two of them run - it was more of Seongwoo running and pulling Daniel with him - into Seongwoo’s bedroom that he closes and locks the door to. Daniel is confused by Seongwoo’s odd behavior but definitely isn’t going to complain.

“Should I be worried that you’re locking the door?” Daniel asks, scratching his head.

“Oh, it’s just…my friend lives next door and he likes to barge in like it’s his own house.” Seongwoo explains. “I c-can leave it open if you want to.”

“It’s fine.” Shaking his head, Daniel sits on Seongwoo’s bed and admires how clear the room is compared to his cluttered one. He jumps a little when he turns to find Seongwoo standing in front of him, smiling. Seongwoo lifts Daniel’s face up by tilting his chin up, admiring Daniel’s face. Daniel asks, “So what was it that you wanted to tell me?”

There is a hesitant look on Seongwoo’s face, which worries Daniel.  _ Is he trying to tell me that last night was a mistake? Does he want me to leave? Why did he bring me in here then? _ Daniel helpfully adds with a laugh to ease both their worries, “Or was it just that you ‘want me’?”

Seongwoo’s expression turns more noticeably relaxed as he nods and bends down so their lips could finally meet again. In a playful mood, Daniel crawls backwards on the bed, leaving Seongwoo hanging. A smirk forms on Seongwoo’s lips as he crawls on the bed to chase after Daniel. Giggling, Daniel stops and waits for Seongwoo to come closer, like a puppy waiting for his treat. When their lips collide again, Daniel enjoys the thought that they’re fully sober now and highly aware that they’re kissing each other. Never in his life he’d imagine himself kissing such a handsome man on his bed in this fancy apartment. It almost feels too good to be true. Daniel tries to pinch his thigh as hard as he can and accidentally winces, causing Seongwoo to pull away quickly.

“Did I hurt you?” Seongwoo asks, his hands cupping Daniel’s face as a reflex.

“N-no, no. That was me- I pinched myself to see if I’m dreaming.” Daniel says and frowns to himself, thinking  _ oh my god you weirdo he’s going to think you’re weird and tell you to leave-- _

“You’re so cute.” Seongwoo chuckles and gives Daniel a chaste kiss on the lips. “I’m going crazy for you, you know?” And another kiss. “Where have you been this whole time?” And another. “I mean it when I say _ I want you _ .”

Unable to really think much because he’s focusing on how nice Seongwoo lips feel against his, Daniel nods and dumbly answers, “Okay.”

Leaning in closer, Seongwoo whispers in Daniel’s ear, “Why don’t you take your jacket off?”

Obligingly, Daniel removes his hoodie off in one swift move, and then the t-shirt he has on underneath. Sitting in front of him, Seongwoo gawks at Daniel’s well built abs that are a result of his countless of hours b-boying as a hobby. Daniel is usually proud to show them off, but sitting before Seongwoo and being the subject of his attention makes him nervous.  _ Perhaps Seongwoo has seen better abs? Fuck, I should’ve skipped the breakfast Minhyun hyung made. _ Daniel looks up and Seongwoo is looking back at him, but his eyes have a different kind of gaze. Slowly, Seongwoo pushes Daniel until he’s lying down and hovers over him like a hungry vulture preying on a weak deer. 

Straddling Daniel’s hips, Seongwoo gently slips a finger under the hem of Daniel’s jeans. Daniel gulps. Seongwoo teasingly strokes patterns around Daniel’s abs, admiring the texture and also the way Daniel is stifling in a moan. “Daniel-ah.”

“Mmm?” Daniel answers with his lips pursed.

“Now let’s take your pants off.”

~

 

 

  
  
  


If you ask Seongwoo, he would say he has no idea how it ended up this way. The original plan was to tell Daniel who he is (an evil corporate man managing the bookstore that will ruin his) over a cup of tea that he would calmly accept if Daniel poured on him out of anger. He knew he had no control over himself when Daniel appeared on his doorstep in a soft hoodie. Actually, just the sight of Daniel is enough to mess the decision making part of his brain up. When they were having sex, Seongwoo felt a million different emotions coursing through him - fear, guilt, ecstasy, inner conflict,  _ love _ . 

Still wide awake, Seongwoo looks down on the fluff of blonde hair resting on his shoulder and sighs. He strokes Daniel’s hair softly and the blonde tightens his hug around Seongwoo’s waist. As much as Seongwoo loves this and is willing to stay in this position forever, he also knows that he can’t. One of the reasons being Daniel has a heavy head and a strong hug, and another reason is Seongwoo’s guilt is overpowering him. Slowly, he peels Daniel off of him and the man sleepily turns away. Daniel moves to sleep on his front, which is doing things to Seongwoo because his broad back looks very inviting. 

And then the front door opens.

Seongwoo gasps as he remembers the plan Jaehwan and him agreed on - tell Daniel about the situation, maybe get punched, try to arrange a formal meeting regarding the issue, maybe get punched again, then Jaehwan can check in on him after about an hour or two. Sneakily rushing out of the room, Seongwoo spots Jaehwan casually strolling in and quietly exclaims, “Dude, get out!”

Covering his mouth, Jaehwan says, “Don’t tell me you still haven’t told him.”

With a regretful expression, Seongwoo lowers his head and mutters, “Something else happened instead.”

Scanning Seongwoo from top to toe, Jaehwan tries to connect the dots and dramatically gasps upon realizing that Seongwoo is wearing a t-shirt he has never seen before and only boxers on. “...you guys fucked?!”

Seongwoo puts a finger to his lips, wincing at how loud Jaehwan is being. Jaehwan gasps even louder and asks, “And he’s still here?!”

“Yes, and he’ll wake up if you don’t shut up.” Seongwoo warns him. 

The quote ‘speak of the devil and he shall appear’ pops up in Seongwoo’s mind when he hears his bedroom door open. Seongwoo doesn’t know if he should push Jaehwan out of his house or let him stand here and get this confrontation over with. He decides to go with the latter since he’s unable to move anyways. A sleepy Daniel walks out of his room, rubbing his eyes and looking too adorable for someone who’s only in his boxers. He smiles at Seongwoo but the smile rapidly changes into a stunned expression once he notices they have company. 

“O-oh? It’s you!” Daniel exclaims, pointing at Jaehwan as if there is anyone else to point at. “You’re one of the Grand Books assholes!”

Wincing at the title Jaehwan has that also majorly applies to him, Seongwoo holds Daniel’s shoulder. “Daniel, remember when I said I had something--”

“What is he doing here?” Daniel asks, his face looking half-worried and half-angry. “S-Seongwoo...why is he here?”

“Daniel, let’s sit and--”

“Do you know Grand Books? That company wants to pay me to shut down my business.” Daniel fumes, making it harder for Seongwoo to calm him down. “So please tell me why is he here. Don’t tell me you--”

“DANIEL!” Seongwoo shouts, getting Daniel’s attention. He inhales and announces, “I’m the regional project manager of Grand Books.” He would usually say it with more pride and gusto, but today he’s saying it like it’s the worse position to ever be held. He looks down to avoid having seeing Daniel’s reaction and adds, “I’m the one who issued the letter to your bookstore.”

Jaehwan’s jaw goes slack, never having expected it would go down like this. He notices Daniel unclenching his initially balled up fist. Daniel’s voice grows soft when he asks, “S-so your development business…”

“It’s the bookstore. Jaehwan and I were assigned to the job a-and we had no idea there was already another bookstore there.” Seongwoo explains, his hand sliding down to hold Daniel by the wrist. “If I knew it was yours--”

“So what if it’s not mine?” Daniel cuts him off, yanking his wrist away. “It’s still horrible of you to think you can dismiss it like a disposable store! Did you not think of how valuable it might be to its owner? Will it trouble you that much to just relocate your dumb store?”

Jumping in to hopefully resolve the tension, Jaehwan says, “The construction was already underway, so our first thought was to maybe have you consider--”

“You know what,” Daniel turns around and heads back into Seongwoo’s room, not even bothering to finish his sentence. 

Worried, Seongwoo runs after him and frowns when he sees Daniel picking his hoodie up and then wearing his pants. Seongwoo suggests, “You know, we can resolve this like professionals and arrange a proper meeting. Without emotions involved.”

“Don’t worry, because the only emotion that’ll be involved is resentment.” Daniel scoffs,  slipping his hoodie on. 

Rolling his eyes, Seongwoo retorts, “You’re going to let this small matter come between us?”

“Oh, I’m glad to know that this is a small matter to you. Now it’s much easier knowing that I wasted all this time on an asshole.” Daniel walks past him and exits the bedroom, laughing bitterly. A sudden thought crosses his mind, making him stop in his tracks to ask a question he’s not sure if he wants the answer to. 

“And...you knew this...the whole time?”

“No.” Seongwoo quickly defends himself. He takes a glance at Jaehwan and explains, “I literally just found out this morning after the conference call.”

Hurt flashes across Daniel’s eyes as he asks, “You mean  _ before _ I came over and let you bend me over?”

Realizing how horrible it sounds now that Daniel said it himself, Seongwoo could only lower his head and sigh. He wants to say something and perhaps salvage what is left of this relationship, but his mind doesn’t allow him to.

Still standing there since earlier, Jaehwan watches as the drama unfolds. Daniel angrily walks past him, giving him a deadly stare before yanking the front door open. Before leaving, Daniel doesn’t even turn to look at Seongwoo when he says, “I’ll have Minhyun hyung arrange that meeting you want so badly. Just know that in no way am I closing my store.”

The door slam that follows makes Jaehwan jump, but Seongwoo remains static as he stands by the door of his bedroom. The painful silence makes Jaehwan uncomfortable, so he softly mutters, “Hyung…”

“You heard him. Get that meeting arranged.” 

~

 

 

  
  
  
  


When he arrives at the bookstore, Daniel realizes that he’s slightly colder than before because he left the t-shirt he was wearing underneath his hoodie. Seongwoo was wearing it. At the thought of his name, Daniel closes the front door a little too hard and earns the stares of the customers in the bookstore. He promptly bows at the nearby customers who were startled and makes his way to his office at the back of the store. Woojin who is manning the cashier post notices Daniel coming in and cheerfully greets him.

“Had a great time, hyung?”

Daniel rushes past him without even glancing, making Woojin gulp. He quickly turns to look at Minhyun, who is looking back at him with the same worry in his eyes upon seeing how Daniel is acting. They were expecting a chirpy and bright Daniel to come back from meeting his beau, not the worse kind of Daniel they rarely even see. Minhyun assures Woojin he’ll handle this and leaves to follow Daniel.

Entering his office, Daniel shuts the door and is finally able to let go of the breath he’s been holding in this whole time. He walks towards his desk and takes his phone out, doing the thing he should’ve done the moment Seongwoo asked him out: do research on him. Daniel usually does it in the past with the other people he went out with, but there was something assuring about Seongwoo that made him look past that phase. 

Typing in the search bar and pressing ‘go’, Daniel sighs disappointedly at himself the moment his eyes rest on the first search result. There aren’t that many ‘Ong’s in Korea in the first place, so there could only be one Ong Seongwoo. The LinkedIn-ish web page he opens clearly states that Seongwoo’s current employer is Grand Books Ent. where he holds a high post for someone his age. Daniel chucks his phone on the couch across the room and groans.

“Niel-ie?” Daniel hears Minhyun gently say from behind the door. When Daniel doesn’t respond, Minhyun enters the room and closes the door behind him. His heart drops when he sees Daniel smiling, because he could tell it’s a forced one. “Are you okay?”

Daniel thinks about the thousands of ways he could answer that questions, but ultimately ends up saying, “I don’t know.”

Sitting on the desk and facing his younger friend, Minhyun pats Daniel’s cheeks affectionately and asks, “Was it that Ong guy? Did he do something?”

With all his anger, Daniel could implode and scream about his feelings to Minhyun. He could even break a few things in the room if he wants to. Instead, Daniel feels tears brimming his eyes and allows it to flow. Minhyun, having never seen Daniel cry since elementary school, panics a little and holds Daniel’s face, asking, “Yah, what did he do to you?!”

Daniel rests his head on Minhyun’s lap on the desk and lets out a quiet sob. “Hyung...he lied to me…”

“W-what do you mean?” Minhyun asks, his mind already set on looking for that prick and setting his house on fire.

“He is the guy who issued us that letter, hyung. He’s the one in charge of the Grand Books store opening up down the road.” Daniel says in between his gentle and soft sobs. Minhyun gasps at this, unsure of what to feel about it. Daniel adds, “He knows I own the store, hyung. He knew a-and we had- w-we had sex.”

Confused by all the information given and the sobs that make it hard to understand, Minhyun mutters, “I...don’t think I understand.”

“He only told me who he is after we fucked!” Daniel exclaims, wetting Minhyun’s pants with his tears. “He knew who I was and how I felt about his job and he still…” Daniel’s voice grows quieter, “He’s a bad guy.”

Growing up together, Minhyun has always been the one who protects his younger friends - especially Daniel. The bullying he had to endure in elementary school made him tougher than nails, which means Minhyun didn’t need to worry about Daniel much after that. But seeing people mistreat Daniel even to this day still makes Minhyun unbelievably angry. He hops off the desk to lean in and give Daniel a proper hug. Daniel clings onto him and dries his eyes on Minhyun’s shoulder, sighing as he feels 10 years worth of tears emptied from his tear ducts. Minhyun rubs his back and kisses the side of his head, knowing that only he could comfort Daniel this way. His friends would usually groan and evade when he kisses them (he finds it to be the best way to express his affection) but right now Daniel holds onto him tighter instead.

“I told him we’ll have a meeting, but I told them you’ll handle it.” Daniel says as he peels himself away from Minhyun, eyes now dry.

Brushing Daniel’s hair away from his forehead, Minhyun nods. “I’ll go and meet them. Don’t worry, this store is going nowhere.”

~

 

 

  
  
  
  


Winter arrives. It has been a few months in and the store is almost ready for its New Years opening, save for some interior work. Work is going on schedule and the company announced a large Christmas bonus for everyone, but a certain Ong Seongwoo could only stare out the window of his office room and sigh.

Seongwoo spent the weekends after that morning’s incident avoiding the market in case he bumps into Daniel. Even so, he drove past the bookstore sometimes to see if Daniel was there, though he wasn’t sure what he’d do even if he saw the man. Like any millennial, Seongwoo even took it upon himself to create an Instagram account just to look at Daniel’s account that Jaehwan oh so generously looked up for him. Daniel seemed to have spent most of his time drinking and partying with friends, which hurts Seongwoo because this past few months would’ve turned out differently had he been truthful from the start. Maybe it would’ve been Seongwoo in all those pictures with him.

_ Or perhaps not. He would’ve hated me either way. _

Truth is, Seongwoo hates Daniel. He hates the fact that Daniel is willing to let go of the sparks they had between them just because of a strictly professional move Seongwoo took to secure the smoothness of Grand Books’ store opening. It was a dick move, but Seongwoo didn’t earn a business degree to be  _ nice _ . He did eventually ask around about Daniel’s store and found out that it has been there for ages; Daniel inherited the business just after he finished high school, which he has been running with his best friends. It sent Seongwoo into a week of swimming in a deep pool of guilt when he found out, but he got over it after drinking at 3 a.m. with some local old men and ultimately deciding:  _ fuck Kang Daniel. And his bookstore. _ (Except he didn’t really mean it.)

The meeting with Minhyun did end up happening, but it was filled to the brim with tension as Minhyun set his foot down and insisted that their decision cannot be changed. After the meeting, he even came up to Seongwoo and said something seemingly out-of-character for him that it had Seongwoo thinking about it for a week.

“Daniel would have never hurt you, but I can. And I will, so stay away from him.”

Shivers run down Seongwoo’s spine just thinking about it. And as much as he hates to admit it, the thought of someone like Minhyun being able to be there to comfort Daniel makes him angry. Sure, he hates Daniel, but of all the things Seongwoo could bring himself to do, he cannot seem to stop caring for the man he had known for barely days. When he did spot Daniel, whether it be at a cafe or the park, Seongwoo could only hope that Daniel is doing well. A sense of relief would flood over him every time he witnessed Daniel smiling. Which is almost all the time.

So when Seongwoo spots Woojin in a store that’s hosting a post-Christmas chocolate sale, Seongwoo could not help but to leave Jaehwan behind to haul everything in the store and go up to Woojin.

“Woojin-sshi?” Seongwoo greets him, hoping he’d recognize Seongwoo as he only remembers seeing Woojin from a distance when he sent Daniel home from their date.

Looking at the stranger greeting him, Woojin’s face lights up in revelation when he most probably realizes who it is. “O-Ong-sshi?”

Seongwoo nods and smiles at the comfortable vibe Woojin has - definitely not threatening like Minhyun. Noticing Woojin’s indecisiveness, Seongwoo asks, “Found anything nice?”

It’s weird for Seongwoo who has never had a prior verbal encounter with Woojin to be asking this, but Woojin entertains him and answers, “I’m looking for something to gift my, uh, best friend. My best friend.”

“With intentions beyond that of a friend?” Seongwoo teases with the quirk of an eyebrow. Woojin smiles shyly at this, his snaggletooth peeking and Seongwoo finds it to be the most adorable thing ever. Seongwoo grabs a box of chocolates in the shape of animals and passes it to Woojin. “Something cute would help. And a note, maybe.”

“Oh, Jihoon would love this.” Woojin says, taking the box in his hand and admires the cute packaging. He looks up to find Seongwoo holding a box of it too, but puts it back on the rack. Woojin mutters, “He misses you, you know.”

“W-what?” Seongwoo blinks.

“It’s dumb because you guys barely even met enough times to be this attached,” Woojin sighs, “but I guess you left a deep impression on him.”

Seongwoo rubs the back of his neck nervously, unsure of what to make of this. He has been assuming that Daniel is enjoying life without him just fine, but the blonde might just have it worse than him. “Is he okay?”

“Depends,” Woojin shrugs and fiddles with the box of chocolates, “if you care.”

“More than you’ll ever know.” Seongwoo assures him.

“He hasn’t been doing too good since you messed things up with him.” Woojin explains. “It wasn’t just that - it was also the pressure of your dumb bookstore opening soon and it being our store’s 70th anniversary next year...he hasn’t been handling it well.”

“He’s been drinking, hasn’t he?” Seongwoo asks, earning a look from Woojin. “I-I check up on him sometimes. On Instagram.”

“He drinks a lot in the first place.” Woojin helpfully points out.

“That’s still bad--”

“I know Minhyun hyung told you to stay away from him like the mother hen that he is, but I think it would do both of you more good than bad if you guys...reconcile.”

“Reconcile?”

“Make up. Forgive and forget- I don’t know, just do something.” Woojin gestures with the box of chocolate in hand at Seongwoo, implying that he should fix things up with Daniel. “He was the happiest when he talked about you.”

“But our stores…”

“It’s dealt with, isn’t it? We’re staying, you’re opening, we’ll figure things out as we go.” Woojin shrugs, offering his highly mature opinion. “You can’t let things between the both of you stay unresolved.”

Carefully taking Woojin’s words into consideration, Seongwoo smiles. He grabs another box of the animal-shaped chocolate and suggests, “If I pay for two of these boxes, will you help me deliver it to him?”

A smile creeps on Woojin’s face. “May I suggest the liquor-induced selection for him instead?”

~

 

 

  
  
  


During New Years, Daniel would usually have this bad habit of not being able to deny each of the party invitations he receives. This results to him jumping from one party to another and end up being too hammered by midnight to even bother about finding someone to kiss. This year, though, he finds himself considering only one invitation. 

Woojin came home one day with a box of liquor chocolate and Grand Books’ New Years Pre-Opening Party invitation in his hand, handing them both to Daniel. Daniel still feels offended at anything with ‘Grand Books’ written on it, but after finishing the box of chocolates, he decides to attend it. He blames it on Woojin who mentioned his meeting with Seongwoo, because now Daniel can’t help but want to meet him as well. Daniel has repeatedly made it clear that he hates Seongwoo and everything he represents, but it’s all talk as Woojin and Minhyun witnessed for themselves Daniel sleep talking to Seongwoo. It got tiring at some time point - telling himself something repeatedly in hopes of it coming true. He can never hate Seongwoo as much as he wants to.

And that is why he is standing outside of the Grand Books store in the snow with his winter coat on. He is wearing a white shirt with a sweater on top, which is a little fancy for his liking but (a reluctant) Minhyun said a plaid shirt is going to make him stick out. With a gift in his hand, Daniel steps inside and passes his invitation and his coat to the person waiting by the door. 

The store is huge to say the least. It feels empty now that there are only a few people from the nearby stores as well as mostly Grand Books employees. There are a few older men in business suits seen drinking on the second floor, which Daniel assumes are the higher ups. Daniel can imagine the store being filled to the brim with customers during its formal opening tomorrow morning, what with the curious nature of the neighborhood here. The few people from the neighborhood are here and glancing at Daniel, exchanging whispers with each other. They’re probably wondering why Daniel would be at his rival’s territory which is, fair enough, a valid question. Daniel chuckles and thinks to himself,  _ I would’ve asked myself that question before getting naked on his bed if I knew. _

And then Daniel spots Seongwoo. In a dapper suit that fits his slender figure nicely, Seongwoo looks all too handsome as he mingles with the other older businessmen on the second floor. Daniel knows it would be beyond odd if he goes up there, so he wonders if he should just turn around and go home. Picking up a glass of champagne being served, he looks around and finds that he does not want to talk to anyone here who isn’t Ong Seongwoo.

_ Maybe he doesn’t even want to talk me. What if he stays up there all night? I sure as hell won’t be staying down here all night. I should just join Minhyun hyung and Woojinie at the club. Why did I even put on this dorky outfit- _

“Daniel.”

Daniel turns around and almost chokes on his drink upon seeing Seongwoo suddenly appear behind him. Seongwoo is panting a little, which by Daniel’s deduction could only mean that he ran down upon spotting Daniel. Or he teleported himself. “S-Seongwoo.” Daniel notices the attention Seongwoo must’ve collected after running down and looks away, flustered. “You don’t have to greet me. I’m...fine here. I just came to say hi.”

Noticing the stares on them, Seongwoo pulls Daniel with him into a room near them that turns out to be the employee's locker room. An excited smile adorns Seongwoo’s face as he says, “I didn’t think you’d come.”

“The liquor chocolate did the trick.” Daniel jokes. He looks down and remembers the gift he had brought - a box of candies he made Woojin buy at one of the post-Christmas sales - so he passes it to Seongwoo. “Congrats on the store opening.”

Seongwoo receives the gift and smiles at the box of candies clearly meant for children. He looks up and his smile turns sad. “I don’t know why I don’t feel as excited as I should be.”

Oddly, Daniel feels bad for Seongwoo. He recalls during their date how Seongwoo excitedly detailed his journey from college to getting accepted into an established company - vividly explaining how big his vision for the future is. The opening of this store is meant to be the start of his great career, and hearing Seongwoo say that makes his heart hurt. Daniel should feel elated, but he really isn’t. “Is it because of me?”

“I’ll have you know that,” Seongwoo takes in a deep breath and holds Daniel’s hand in his, “since we met, I don’t remember a time that I’m not thinking about you. My job in its entirety reminds me of you, and it  _ sucks _ . It reminds me of how I was willing to act so tall and mighty in order to keep my job running smoothly without considering people’s sentiments. But most of all, it reminded me of how much of a jerk I was to you. I should’ve just told you about it that morning when you came over but a part of me said you would’ve left straight away - and maybe I was right. But I had no right to do that to you.”

Assessing the sincerity in Seongwoo’s eyes, Daniel smiles as he gently holds Seongwoo’s hand back and gives it a squeeze. “Did you wait a long time to tell me that?”

Biting his lip out of embarrassment, Seongwoo laughs. “I had months to practice.”

Daniel’s other hand reaches up to nervously fix Seongwoo’s tie as he says, “The store is all I have, so I think I was rightfully upset. But I’m sorry I didn’t assume the best out of you and just...left.”

“It’s not your fault.” Seongwoo pulls him forward by his hand, and wraps his arms around Daniel’s waist. He bites his lip nervously and asks, “Is it safe to assume I’m forgiven now?”

Fixing Seongwoo’s collar, Daniel pretends to be in deep thought and hums. “Well, the store opening will still hurt me for the next few months, so…” 

“You do know I’m so whipped for you at this point that if you told me to abandon the store, I will.” Seongwoo remarks, laughing bitterly at himself for falling this hard for Daniel.

His cheeks rising and his eyes forming into crescents, Daniel laughs. Seongwoo missed this. Daniel shakes his head and then tilts it playfully. “I’m saying that you will have to make up for it.” Tugging on Seongwoo’s collar, he clears his throat and removes himself from Seongwoo. “And I’m saying it involves  _ a lot _ of sleepovers.” 

**Author's Note:**

> hope u enjoyed this mess! might make a second part that'll focus on the other pairings i intended to add dhsgfdsfjsd
> 
> on twitter @ defseongwoo if u wanna fite
> 
> a snippet of the fic coming ur way tmrw ;)
> 
> “You’re in my seat.” Said Seongwu, in a clipped voice.
> 
> “I’m sorry,” said Daniel, looking around in mock curiosity, “but I don’t see your name on it.”
> 
> “Get out of my seat.” Demanded Seongwu.
> 
> It was like the last 48 hours had culminated to this one moment where everything had reached it’s boiling point. Daniel was cranky and had run out of patience for bullshit, and certainly not Ong Seongwu’s. 
> 
> “Make me.” Daniel’s challenged, steeling his jaw to match Seongwu’s glare.
> 
> There were plenty of unoccupied seats in the cafe, so why did he have to be in this particular one. The audacity. 
> 
> “I'm serious Daniel, get out of my seat, I don’t have time to deal with you. I need to write my paper.” said Seongwu through gritted teeth.
> 
> “Oh well in that case,” Daniel rearranged the textbooks that laid messily around the table, “you can sit across from me, or you can feel free to sit somewhere else.”
> 
> It was clear that Seongwu was not used to being spoken to this way. His lips parted slightly in surprise, a look akin to annoyance staining his pretty features. People in the cafe had begun to stare, the raised voices drawing their attention.


End file.
